08/20/2024 – Jurisdiction Ontario
Part 87 published on 01/09/2024
Court grants order respecting hoarding, failure to allow access for service personnel and failure to properly maintain a motor vehicle
The Court found that the Respondent owner had:
- engaged in hoarding activities;
- failed, on some occasions, to properly permit service personnel to enter her unit;
- failed to properly maintain her car (including failure to keep the car reasonably clean).
The Court said:
I accordingly grant a compliance order allowing the Applicant to enter the Respondent’s unit with notice and to require the removal of specific identified hazards from the unit. When entering the Respondent’s unit, the Applicant’s personnel are required to take reasonable steps to accommodate the Respondent’s health by wearing masks, self-screening for illness, and enabling the Respondent to vacate her unit during the service call should she wish to. I am hopeful that these precautions will allay the Respondent’s concerns about protecting her health, while enabling the Applicant to carry out its duties.
…
I do not doubt that the Respondent has genuine health concerns that shape her behaviour. However, the Respondent is obligated to make some effort to facilitate the accommodation of her health issues by the Applicant and service personnel. The Applicant tried to accommodate her by, for example, by rescheduling appointments, offering to have service personnel wear masks and screen for COVID, permitting her to leave her unit during service calls if she wished, and leaving ant traps by her door for her to place in her apartment so that service personnel did not have to enter her unit. The pest control service providers asked if they could take any steps to accommodate or alleviate the Respondent’s health concerns. The Respondent is required to take reasonable steps to facilitate that accommodation. She cannot simply refuse all service calls. She cannot just say that she is sick and unable to admit service personnel until she is better – particularly when her health issues are chronic and ongoing. That is not reasonable, and not respectful of her legal obligations toward the Applicant or her ethical obligations toward her fellow condominium dwellers.
I therefore grant a compliance order requiring the Respondent to admit service personnel to her unit when reasonable notice is provided to her of their service calls. The order requires service personnel (and any accompanying personnel of the Applicant) to take the steps outlined above to accommodate the Respondent’s health conditions.
…
I therefore grant a compliance order requiring the Respondent to either restore and maintain her car in a driveable condition, or remove it, within 75 days.
Metropolitan Toronto Condominium Corporation No. 961 v. Pereira, 2024 ONSC 4635